I am not sure what constitutes a good stout recipe, so I just want to survey for everyones' favorite stout recipe.
The first stout I did was a raspberry stout. I turned down the OG and ended up with a thinner body than I had hoped for. Now I want something thick, rich, and over 6.5% alc/vol. Any suggestions? Also, what is a good type of yeast. I only have access to dried neutral ale, and limited selection of Wyeast. Is yeast really that important with a brew that will be dominated by malt sweetness?

Stout is one of those great beer superfamilies, with 4-5 distinct subcategories depending on who you ask:dry stout (classic Dublin), export stout, sweet (milk) stout, oatmeal stout, and the macdaddy of them all Russian imperial. I've done dry, sweet, and oatmeal (don't have the patience to wait for imperial to come into its own.

I don't have the style guidelines in front of me, but with an abv of 6.5%, I think you are out of the classic dry and into the export stout category (I know different versions of Guinness Foriegn Extra have weighed in at between 6-8%). For either classic dry or export, I would stick with Wyeast Irish yeast (I don't know the WL equivalent). For sweet and oatmeal I would use London (Wyeast 1028).

My first extract stout - and probably that of many boardfolk - was Papazian's near-immortal "Toad Spit Stout" from CJHB. I know he recently revisited the recipe in a Zymurgy column an issue or two back, updating some procedures and refining ingredients to bring this 20-year old chestnut up to date (he said this is the most brewed recipe from the book, according to people he's talked to over the years. I can't remember if he gave an all-grain formulation in that article, but if not you can come up with one. If you want to feel some continuity with a couple decades worth of homebrewers, an all-grain based on toad spit would be a way to go. If you want to get the Guinness tang, don't forget to sour 12-24 ounces of Guiness (pour a pint, cover with cheesecloth and leave it in a warm dark closet for 2 days) to add to the boil. Also use some flaked barley to get that good head retention, and more roasted barley than chocolate or patent if you are shooting for a Guinness clone.

I'll be interested to see what other posters suggest, but I guess I'm feeling nostalgic tonight

I have brewed many high gravity stouts, one had an O.G. of 1.131! I think that yeast is very important. Perhaps oddly I would recommend a high attenuating yeast. This may seem on, but sometimes in big batches the sweetness can become rather unpleasent i.e. cloying. I have experinced this even at the 1.080 neighborhood.
1) I use two fermenters for anything over 1.080. One geyser was enough for me to be careful.
2) Starter culture, starter culture, starter culture, starter culture, starter culture...
3) Did I mention starter culture?
4) On beers with an O.G. I use both beer and champagne yeast in the starter. Some people pitch champagne yeast after the beer is done. That is risky. I have had the champagne yeast not "take" because there was too much alcohol present. Some people say that if beer yeast and champgne yeast are pitched at the same time the champagne yeast will dominate. My response is that I will not risk having a stuck ferementation. If the batch is borderline say about 1.070 then maybe pitching champagne yeast later might be okay. For example if I am making a doppelbock, which for doppelbocks I am strict about keeping the style guide lines, I pitch champagne yeast after the beer yeast is done. Anything above 1.080 I pitch champagne yeast with the beer yeast.

I would prefer to top out at 1070. I just want to be able to get a good starter going and pitch, and not have to worry about repitching yeast. I am thinking I may reculture a yeast from UniBroue in Quebec. They brew some knock you on your arse strong beer, and the best part is that they bottle condition the beer. I am not sure what style the beer (named Maudite) is, but it is dark, boozy and rich in flavour. Maybe it is not really a stout I am looking for. I have just always equated stout with strong, rich, boozy beer.
Thanks for the hi grav advice, both on this thread and the one below.
Chris

mmmmmmmmm ........ nice and smooth and creamy, with great flavor, head.

My favorite stout.

But, I've also made some stouts from a base of two row, and roasted barley and a little choc grain for specialty grain, full hop boil with Galena. Nice ... but, I'm learning to go easy or lay off the chocolate. The roasted barley sure has enough flavor.